Pitha Utsab

About Pitha Utsab

Pitha is the family name for hundreds of rice-based cakes, dumplings and pancakes made across Bangladesh. They can be steamed, fried, baked on a clay pan or soaked in syrup or milk, and they can be sweet or savoury. Pitha is eaten all year in some form, but it belongs above all to winter, when the new Aman rice has been milled into fresh flour and date-palm trees are tapped for sap that is boiled down into khejur gur.

There is no single festival day. The season runs roughly from mid-December, the start of Poush, to mid-February, and the moment many families wait for is Poush Sankranti, the last day of Poush around 14 January, when making and sharing pitha is a long tradition, especially in Hindu households and in Old Dhaka where kites fill the sky for Shakrain. Through these weeks schools, universities, community groups and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy hold pitha festivals, with stalls selling dozens of regional varieties.

How it is celebrated

The everyday winter pitha is bhapa: rice flour layered with gur and grated coconut and steamed in a cloth over a pot. Roadside sellers make it at dawn and dusk alongside chitoi, a plain rice cake baked in a clay mould and eaten with spicy bhorta or soaked in sweetened milk. At home, families make patishapta (thin crêpes rolled around coconut or kheer), puli and dudh puli, and decorative nakshi pitha carved with patterns, a skill handed down in some districts as a craft in its own right.

Pitha is a social food. Sons-in-law are invited for pitha in winter, relatives send boxes to each other, and a pitha party is a favourite way to gather friends on a cold evening. Pitha festivals in cities let people taste specialities from other regions without travelling.

What people buy

1. Date-palm jaggery

   Khejur gur in liquid, soft or block form is the season's signature ingredient. Buyers look for gur from known districts and ask whether it has added sugar.

2. Rice flour

   Freshly milled flour from new rice gives the softest pitha. Some shops sell it pre-mixed for bhapa or chitoi.

3. Moulds and pans

   Clay chitoi pans, bhapa pitha moulds and patterned wooden moulds for nakshi pitha are bought once and used for years.

4. Coconut and fillings

   Grated coconut, kheer, sesame and dried fruit go into rolled and stuffed pitha.

5. Ready-made pitha

   Home bakers and small shops sell boxed pitha for those who would rather not cook, especially for office gatherings.

6. Winter warmers

   Shawls, blankets and woollens sell alongside pitha supplies, since the coldest weeks fall in the same window.

Gift ideas

1. A pitha box

   Mixed homemade pitha is a warm gift for in-laws, neighbours or colleagues during the cold weeks.

2. Gur and rice flour hamper

   Good jaggery with fresh flour lets relatives in the city make their own pitha at home.

3. A pitha mould set

   Carved moulds or a clay chitoi pan suit anyone who enjoys cooking traditional food.

4. A shawl or kantha

   A soft shawl or a light nakshi kantha fits the season and is often given alongside pitha.

Shopping tips

Fresh gur and rice flour do not keep long, so order them a few days before you plan to cook rather than weeks ahead, and store gur somewhere cool. Fog in December and January can slow road transport, and ready-made pitha is best from a seller close to you so it arrives fresh.

On Midmart each shop sells and delivers independently, and delivery is charged per shop. Gur from one shop, a mould from a second and a shawl from a third will come as three parcels with three delivery charges, so buy from one seller where you can. Midmart never takes payment or handles delivery: each seller agrees payment and shipping with you directly, so ask how they pack liquid gur and fragile clay before you confirm.

Shop for Pitha Utsab

• date palm jaggery
• rice flour
• pitha mould
• chitoi pitha pan
• clay pot
• coconut
• shawl

Pitha Utsab dates

Dates marked “expected” depend on the moon sighting or the official calendar and are confirmed close to the day.

Questions about Pitha Utsab

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